A quick and easy pasta dish packed with fresh shiitake mushrooms and garlic! Shiitake Mushroom Pasta is light and flavorful, seasoned with soy sauce and black pepper. It belongs to the category of "wafu pasta" which is Japanese-style pasta. It's super onolicious ^_^
Craving pasta, but want to keep it simple? That's how I always feel!
This is why I really love making Japanese-style pasta, aka wafu pasta. From Mentaiko Pasta to Butter Soy Sauce Pasta the world of wafu pasta is vast and we are here to explore it.
Today's pasta is all about shiitake mushrooms. We use shiitake mushrooms in many recipes, but we usually use dried shiitake mushrooms. For this recipe, we're using fresh shiitake mushrooms. You can buy them fresh at many supermarkets, and definitely at Japanese and Chinese markets.
The whole pasta comes together in 15 minutes. It is great for everything from a quick family dinner to a solo lunch. This pasta always satisfies and leaves you feeling good.
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Ingredients
Here's what you'll need:
- Dried angel hair pasta - You can also use spaghetti but we prefer angel hair because it's more delicate, and a good fit for a light "sauce."
- Olive oil - If you a more decadent pasta, replace the olive oil with butter. Or you could use both! Most though, we just use good olive oil.
- Onion
- Garlic - We use a lot of garlic, but you can use even more if you really, really love garlic ^_^
- Fresh shiitake mushrooms
- Soy sauce - Kikkoman Soy Sauce and Aloha Shoyu are our two go-to brands.
- Black pepper - Because we use a good amount of black pepper in this recipe, you want to use freshly ground black pepper (not already ground black pepper). It makes a difference!
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Let's get cooking!
Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and saute until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for another 1 minute.
Then add the sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms.
Saute until tender and cooked through.
Add the soy sauce and ground black pepper. Remove from heat.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the angel hair pasta and cook the pasta according to directions on the package.
Once the pasta is cooked, use tongs to move the noodles from the pot to the pan with the mushrooms. Add in about a half-cup of the pasta water to the pan.
Over medium-low heat, gently toss the pasta with the mushrooms. The starchy pasta water will help bind the sauce to the noodles. Cook for another minute until well combined.
Divide the pasta between two plates. Eat and enjoy! ^_^
Substitutions and Variations
Here are a few tasty ideas:
- Bacon - Bacon is always a good idea! Cut bacon into small 1-inch pieces and pan fry till crispy. Toss with the pasta at the very end.
- Spinach - Spinach is another great way to add more vegetables to the dish. Saute a handful of baby spinach leaves (add it to the same pan right after the mushrooms are done cooking).
- Poached Egg - Top with a poached egg and let the yolk ooze all over the noodles. Sooo good! You can also do a fried egg, but I like this better with a poached egg.
Try a few or try them all!
Equipment
All you need is a large pan to make the sauce and toss the pasta. And a large pot to boil the pasta in.
Storage
Shiitake Mushroom Pasta is always best fresh, right after it's made. But leftovers will keep in the fridge for 1-2 days. Reheat in the microwave in 30 second increments.
Top Tip
In Step 6 of the recipe below, we add half-cup of the pasta cooking water to the sauce and noodles. This starch in the cooking water helps binds the sauce to the noodle.
A good tip is to save a cup (instead of half-cup) of the pasta cooking water. This is just in case you need more...and this happens more often than you think. If the sauce gets too dry or you need to loosen up the noodles, extra starchy water comes in handy.
FAQ
You're in the right place! We love to make:
- Mentaiko Pasta - Another popular wafu pasta dish.
- Butter Soy Sauce Pasta - Also wafu pasta!
- Parsley Pasta - Great use when you have a ton of parsley.
- Midnight Pasta - For anchovy lovers.
You can add more/different mushrooms, but you definitely need shiitake mushrooms as the "base" for this recipe.
This is a super flexible recipe. Feel free to use more or less of any ingredients. You can even double up on the mushrooms! Use a whole head of garlic! It'll be tasty.
Shiitake Mushroom Pasta Recipe
Shiitake Mushroom Pasta
Ingredients
- ⅓ pound dried angel hair pasta or spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
- 1 small onion diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 6 fresh shiitake mushrooms sliced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons black pepper freshly ground
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and saute until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for another 1 minute.
- Then add the sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms. Saute until tender and cooked through.
- Add the soy sauce and ground black pepper. Remove from heat.
- Bring a large pot of water a to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to directions on the package.
- Once the pasta is cooked, use tongs to move the noodles from the pot to the pan with the mushrooms. Add in about a half-cup of the pasta water to the pan.
- Over medium-low heat, gently toss the pasta with the mushrooms. The starchy pasta water will help bind the sauce to the noodles. Cook for another minute until well combined.
- Divide between two plates. Eat and enjoy! ^_^
Nutrition
Related
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Mahalo for Reading!